


A Rose By Any Other Name

by thelazyrose



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ruby-centric, RubyCentric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26464690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelazyrose/pseuds/thelazyrose
Summary: In which Ruby has amnesia and goes on a journey to discover who she is.RubyCentric & Post!Volume 3 AUCrossposted on FFN: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13696795/1/A-Rose-By-Any-Other-Name
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue: Amnesia

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I like penguins.
> 
> Slight CrossOver with DBZ, once more chapters have been published, the Crossover tag will be added.

There was a ringing sound in her ears when she awoke. As if an explosion had gone off in the distance and yet the annoying sound was overshadowed by the pain she felt all over. At least she still was able to move her body, but her vision was blacked out. Finally moving her hands to her face, with a lot of effort, she was able to clear some of the rubble obstructing her view.

"Nghh.." The female found herself on the edge of some ruins, a lot of stones having buried her body some. It was a shock and surprise that she didn't have any broken bones, and if anything, she mostly felt pain from all her muscles aching every time she moved. With a lot of effort, she managed to stand up, dusting herself off finally.

Yet all this pain was bearable enough, she had other worries. A worry which included why she couldn't remember anything. Not where she was, how she came to be buried under a pile of stones and most importantly,  _ who was she? _

The girl wandered around the ruins for a bit, finding a mirror after a few minutes of exploration. It was broken, shattered into many pieces.  _ Shattered, but whole _ . It amused the girl for some reason, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Regardless, she had moved on to inspect herself in the mirror.

Red-hair, about shoulder-length. Silver-Eyes that seemed confused, yet held some spark of purity in them and finally, her attire. It was in tatters, but still held up well enough. Yet she would be in need of new clothing the moment she got her hands on some. Of course there was the red cape too.

It made the red-haired girl feel...sad, to see it so burned up and in pieces. It barely went past her knees at this point and had a more rugged look to it now. Still, she finished checking herself out, finding the name of  **_Ruby_ ** , on the underwear. Was that her name? Or was it just the color of the underwear she was wearing?

"M-My na…" She wasn't able to speak. Not out of exhaustion, but because her throat was dry. Ruby didn't know how long she was laying there, but it must have been a while. Still, there was a shop nearby, still on the edge of town, where she could avoid those...things.

By things, she meant the creatures of Grimm, which seemed to be attracted to the Dragon hurdled on the tower in the distance. Ruby hadn't been able to guess why they were going there, where she even was or how the dragon tower came to be, but it was in her best interest to steer clear of that at all costs.

Sneaking towards the shop, she wasn't surprised to find it in a near-ruined state. Ruby let out a sigh, wondering why the Grimm had done this, or was it someone else? Still, she was able to find some unharmed packs of juice, as well as some food. Sitting down, she had eaten them with great gusto, consuming them a bit slower, so her throat wouldn't hurt from too much at once.

She had eaten for a good 10 minutes, consuming as much as her body allowed her to. The trash had piled up, Ruby dumping it in the nearby trash can and realizing that she didn't have to, but did so out of being polite. She took the rest she didn't eat or drink and stashed it into a nearby backpack, deciding to take them as rations for her journey ahead. By her estimates, it should last her about three to four days.

Taking a minute to thank the not-present shop-owner, Ruby made a mental note to pay him if she remembers it in the future. On the note of money, she checked the cash-register, taking as much lien as her pockets could hold. It equaled to around 2'500 lien, which she didn't know if it was much, but hopefully it would be.

With that out of the way, Ruby reached out for her weapon...Why did she do that? Did she used to have a weapon attached to her lower back? It must have been muscle memory, as Ruby couldn't recall anything else about it due to her amnesia.

"How annoying." Clenching her teeth, Ruby was happy that she could finally speak again. "Oh well, time to get a move on." Perhaps she should stop talking to herself while she was at it too.

Getting out of the shop, she moved to the outside of the ruined city, and while she still held many questions, she would have to get them later, once she was out of the danger zone. She could have started to run, but there was too much danger of being found. Yet another idea came to mind, as she chose not to cross the streets.

Instead she went up to the rooftops, having leapt a great distance up there. Ruby didn't know how it was possible, but it felt natural to do, and without further ado, she began sprinting to the edge and to the walls, which she was able to jump onto too, after half a dozen failed attempts.

On top of the walls, she saw an incredible sight. Green forest as far as her eyes could see, with some regions to the left looking greener, while the right seemed to be in a snowy region. Deciding to go where the grass was greener, Ruby jumped down, landing on the ground with a visible thud, a small crater forming.

Her knees had to take the impact, but it was mostly absorbed by her Aura.

Yet another thing that Ruby somehow instinctively knew about, Aura. It was weird to say the least, as if it was an extension of her soul, but able to be manipulated into energy of sorts. She'd have to look into it more later, see what she could do with it, but for now, she had to get a move on.

Her supplies would last her for a while and hopefully she would come across a village. Maybe there she could buy some new clothing, as with her current attire, she looked like nothing more than a homeless hobo.

Of course such was only her short-term objective, with her primary objective being to find out who she was and whether or not she can retrieve her memories. Ruby reasoned that a blow to the head must have erased or blocked her memories for the time being.

Maybe it was a crash-landing? It would explain why she woke up in those ruins. Still, she had to keep moving forward or with all this guessing, making assumptions and more, she'd never make it before night falls.

"I shoulda looked for camping supplies too." Ruby groaned, as she was now moving at speeds that the naked eye barely could follow. She was subconsciously tapping into her Speed Semblance without realizing it, assuming it to be her normal speed.

Her eyes didn't water or dry out from all the wind lashing against her from the insane speed, as her Aura automatically protected them. She had to admit, this whole Aura thing really came into handy, with the only thing she had to worry about being avoiding trees, Grimm and the local wild-life.

Most of them didn't even see her pass by, while Grimm for some reason steered off her for now. Was it because she reeked rather bad? If yes, then Ruby took offense to Grimm from now on. "I know I likely haven't showered while I was knocked out, but still, how rude." Ruby finally quieted down, focusing on the road once more.

After what felt like hours of running at high speed, with Ruby's Aura being half-depleted by now, she finally saw a village on the horizon. Slowing down, she came to a skid close to the village, walking the rest of the way. Looking up at the sky, Ruby saw that it was likely only a bit into the afternoon.

Walking inside, she got some looks due to her tattered attire, chuckling in a sheepish manner and rubbing the back of her head too, as she apologized for the unsightly image.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where a clothing store is?" Ruby had asked in a polite manner

The civilian pointed at the other end of the street, at a purple building. "Over there. It's called Tardray."

With a thank you and a wave, Ruby bid goodbye and moved to the shop, entering it and looking upwards as she heard the bell rang.

"Is anyone there?" Called out the voice of a woman, who had looked up from the newspaper she was reading. She had pink hair, tied up into a folded ponytail. Ruby could only describe her attire and face as nothing short of beautiful. "Oh dear, what happened to you?"

"Uh-Hello." Stunned a bit, Ruby was able to let that out at the least. "My name is Ruby, and as you can see, I'm in dire need of new clothing, hehe." Another sheepish laugh, as the red-haired explained. "I have a budget of 2'500 Lien, do you think I can get an entire outfit with that, miss? Preferably red-black based like my current one?"

"I think I can throw something for you together, for around 2'000 Lien. Would that be okay?" The Shopkeeper spoke, not waiting for an answer, as she hushed Ruby inside and told her to get undressed in the dressing room.

"Yeah, that should leave me with enough for a night at the inn here." Ruby hoped she was right, wondering if it was a smarter decision to check the price first, before coming clothes shopping. Still, she did as she was instructed, removing the tattered costume of hers, while putting the cloak to the side.

"Yeah, a night costs 300 lien, so you're in the green." The clerk answered, handing Ruby over the clothes. "These should fit you well, but if you're in need of more combat-oriented attire, you need more money, as well head to the next larger village south of here." If anything, from the way Ruby held herself, the clerk could tell she was a warrior of sorts. "You're a huntress, are you not?"

"I...Yeah, I must be." Ruby looked at the raised eyebrow of the merchant, but decided to change the topic. "These look good on me, can I pay now?" What the other had gotten her were a black shirt, as well as some fitting black-gloves. On the bottom part, she still had similar combat boots, alongside crimson cargo-pants, which had plenty of pockets in them, so she could fit more things in them.

"You look amazing dear, I would even call you handsome." The pink-haired saleswoman spoke and decided to pull something out from underneath the counter. "Could you come here for a second? I want to style your hair, free-of-charge."

Ruby debated it, before finally nodding. It did no harm, and she was in need of that anyways, as her hair got into her sight. "Can you help me spike it up a bit? Or did you have any other intentions?"

"That's what I had in mind. I called you handsome, so I might as well add to that." With that out of the way, Ruby and the clerk spent the better part of 20 minutes, helping get Ruby's hair spiked up, as she wanted.

To the clerk's surprise, Ruby's hair seemed to naturally defy gravity. "Oh my, you look not only handsome, but dashing too!"

Ruby blushed at that, awkwardly chuckling and accepting the compliment. "Thank you ma'am, I owe you big time...also if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"My name is Fuchsia, it was pleasant doing business with you." The newly-identified Fuchsia spoke, winking at Ruby and finally taking the money. "Here's a pack of hair-gel, free of charge. Make sure to keep that hairstyle, it suits you very well, Ruby."

Clipping back on her cloak, Ruby paid the money and stashed the hair-gel into her backpack as well. "It was nice meeting you too, Fuchsia. I hope we see each other again someday, so goodbye!"

Ruby left through the door, giving one last wave and then started moving out once more.

"Nice miss, and hey, I dun' look like a hobo anymore." Ruby chuckled, while looking around for the inn. If what she heard was right, it was just around the corner, and lo and behold, she had found it after a few failed identification of buildings.

Paying for the fee, Ruby was now left with 200 lien, and she had put her backpack in the corner and decided to lay down. Or rather was about to, as Ruby had felt a stinging pain on the lower-end of her back, just above her butt. Putting her hand on it, she couldn't feel anything, but a slight bulge.

"Ouch, I musta hit my butt or something." For now she thought about what she could do and then it came to mind. There must have been some odd-jobs or even a request board that she could do to earn some money.

From the vague memories that started resurfacing slowly, mostly about common sense stuff, she was able to recall every village on Remnant had such a board, as per request for Huntsman and Mercenaries. Taking the keycard, she locked the door and went to ask the inn owner for it.

He told Ruby that it was in the middle of town and hard to miss, and surprisingly enough, Ruby was able to quickly find it. She saw some odd requests on it, like 'Catching a Cat', 'Plucking out Weed', or some stranger ones 'Being a Test Model for new clothing.' She did see that it was from Fuchsia, so she thought it was best to take those three aforementioned tasks.

Each of them would net her around 200 Lien each, which meant that her total would get back up to 800 once she was done.

"Yosha!...Why did I say that?" Yeah, Ruby just chalked it down to being a habit she had, before amnesia hit her with a bat.

Catching the cat was easy with her speed, but the thing scratching at her had been annoying. It took long to find the address of the owner, who was someone that Ruby could only describe as ojou-sama.

The plucking out weed quest was more dirty than anything, but Ruby managed to do it in record time too, the farmer having given her 100 bonus Lien for that. Thanking them, Ruby finally moved onto the final task.

It took a couple of minutes to find her way again, but the purple building stood out, next to all the brown and otherwise average looking buildings. Letting out a chuckle, Ruby finally entered.

Back in the shop, Ruby greeted Fuchsia once more, holding out the task letter she had taken. "Heey there, looks like I'll be doing your request, if you're okay with it, Fuchsia?" Considering she felt a bit more familiar with the pink-haired acquaintance she made.

"Back so soon?" Fuchsia asked, perplexed, but upon seeing the request she made, made her nod. "You're just the perfect size too, please come with me." Fuchsia stood up, leading Ruby to the back of the shop and pulling the curtains up after.

Ruby did as before, unclipping her cloak from around her neck and hanging it to the side. After more instructions were passed, she undressed once more and the two ladies had a little fashion montage, with Ruby trying out a plethora of different outfits and combinations.

A couple of hours had passed, with the evening soon beginning and Ruby deciding to retire to the inn, where dinner was being served. It was a sizable portion, with Ruby gulping it down and thanking the chef for the delicious food, before moving to her room once more.

The little fashion show with Fuchsia was fun and enjoyable, but also tiring. There it Fuchsia also wanted to exchange numbers with Ruby, but Ruby revealed that she didn't possess a scroll and told her that the next time they met, she'd have one and exchange numbers with the pink-haired girl.

With that all of the way, Ruby had gotten another 200 extra Lien, and had argued with Fuchsia that she'd just get the normal reward, but the fashionista just wouldn't accept no for an answer, leaving Ruby with no choice, but to accept. It did leave her back with a total of 1'100 Lien, so it was a start to say the least.

Still, Ruby was now laying down on the bed, thinking about how the day had gone by. She had awoken in those ruins, able to salvage some stuff and generally felt pain in the lower end of her back, to the point it was getting bothersome. She was able to ignore it throughout the day, wondering if maybe painkillers could have helped mend it.

Another thought crossed her mind, as she stared at the map hung on the wall. The place she had awoken in was Vale, or more specifically the ruins of it. Word had already reached to ears around that the Academy had fallen. Ruby wondered what caused such, but once again thanks to Mister amnesia, she couldn't be able to recall.

Other things she had to get done, was to find clues to her lost past, maybe even a person or two that knew her, but the chances of such were slim. Finally, she had to get herself some kind of weapon, preferable something that was easy to maintain. Perhaps a short-sword or similar would fit?

Ruby had seen a smithy earlier, but it was too late now to go there. She could do it first thing in the morning. For now, she took a nap, having already been sleepy from all the running she did earlier this morning. It still amazed her at how quick she was, maybe she could become even quicker?

Those thoughts occupied her, as Ruby drifted off into sleep. While one would usually expect for there to be a nightmare or flashes of the past, for Ruby it had been a dreamless sleep, the fatigue and shock of it all having caught up to her too.

Much later, with the sunrise happening, Ruby awoke. She felt much better rested, but also wondered why the pain on her lower back had now stopped. Feeling for it, she gave a couple of blinks, as something seemed to extend from there.

Fearing the worst, Ruby rubbed her eyes awake and saw a tail...a brown tail. It looked like a monkey's tail to be more exact, but why did she have one? Wasn't she human? Or did she become a monkey faunus overnight?

"No, something like that ain't possible." Ruby shook her head, deciding to stand up and try to move the limb. It took half a hour for her to figure out how to work those tail muscles, until she finally could move it with a bit of conscious effort. Still, to not stand out, or be discriminated like Faunus usually would be, she came up with an idea.

Poking a hole into the cargo pants she had bought, just right enough size for her tail to slip in, Ruby had finished putting on her clothing and wrapped her tail around her waist. It looked like a furbelt that kept her pants from slipping off, so that was a success!

Still, now she had another mystery to solve, already adding more stress to her than before. "How troublesome." Still, she had to focus, she didn't want to be too distracted like yesterday.

Moving out of the room, she decided to have some last breakfast, which was a plate even larger than yesterday. Thanking the owner once more, she handed over the keycard and bid them goodbye.

She debated on whether or not to say goodbye to Fuchsia too, but decided against it, due to the tail that had sprouted, seemingly, overnight. It would only lead to questions she couldn't answer right now. Looking up, she found herself standing before the smithy shop.

"I musta been lost in thought." Shaking her head, she entered, looking around and for some reason...felt very comfortable. It's as if the weapons here...she knew how to use some of them, seemed to have knowledge on how they were forged and how they worked.

"Not again." Another headshake, with Ruby snapping her thoughts away, wondering if that was something she did pre-amnesia too. Gush about weapons, how weird. "Hello there!"

"Oi hello young lass!" The mustached man greeted, his accent as thick as his burly arms. "'Ow can I help ya?" He sounded rather friendly.

"I'm in need of a weapon. I have a budget of 1'000 lien, do you think I can get a sword or somethin' like that with it?" Ruby had to stop letting her own accent slip through. It sounded as if she had grown up on a farm of sorts.

"I sure do, ye!" Rummaging around for a bit, the smithy took out a sword, which looked about as average as it could get. "Oi I see, ya hev en eye for weapons, don' ya lassie?"

Sweat-dropping, Ruby gave a nod, deciding to roll with it. "Yeah, I have some experience. That sword looks well-made, it shows how experienced you are." Taking out the 1'000 Lien and leaving Ruby with 100 left, she bought the sword.

"Oi, thanks, and here ya hav' dis too!" A sheath, something that Ruby could holster the sword around with. "'Tis on the hous', from a fella weapon lov' to 'nother!"

Ruby gave a thanks, taking the two items and leaving the shop. She understood what the smithy said, but didn't want to push it too far. Any talk into weapons would be bad, because she barely remembered anything, aside from her muscle memory.

Putting the holster onto her side, she secured the sword and finally got out of the village. The day she had spent there would be fondly remembered, mostly because of Fuchsia being a nice girl and having helped her out so much. Alongside the general kindness too, even the weird smithy had been nice too.

Ruby made a mental note to thank the two of them the next time she passed by here, but for now she started taking it slowly. Running yesterday had exhausted her to use up half of her aura, and she needed that, in-case she encountered bandits, Grimm or worse.

She had overheard talks about this route to the next major village being rather safe, but some incidents befalling it lately. "Heh, looks like it was a good idea eavesdropping on conversations during dinner and breakfast at the inn." Of course unbeknownst to Ruby, her hearing was extremely good, borderline super-hearing, which made it easier for her to listen in on the chats.

Still, for some reason her thoughts delved into battle territory, with Ruby wanting to fight something. She wondered where those thoughts came from, but they were quickly squashed aside, as she finally came across a couple of Beowolf. "Must be scouts."

From what she heard, they usually came in huge herds, so only a few of them meant that they likely were trying to find some food. At the least Ruby thought so, but she couldn't be certain and ultimately, ended up not caring.

She itched for a fight, which led to her drawing her sword. While it would be a problem, what with her not knowing how to use a sword in the first place, she reasoned that she should be able to make-do and improvise.

"Hey you big furry balls, I'm here!" Ruby shouted, deciding to go in with the usual plan of hitting them very hard.

It seemed to work, as the two Beowolves had inspected her for a bit, before howling out and rushing at her. Ruby had to admit, they were pretty quick, but she was quicker.

"Yosha!" There it was again, that bad habit from before. Oh well, Ruby rushed at the slower Beowolf, her sword at the ready, as she went for the stab to the neck. The Beowolf wasn't able to react in time, not having expected the red-haired female to be so quick and promptly was killed.

The sword did its job well, with Ruby having sliced it out of the side of the Grimm's neck, finding it easy to do so for some reason. "Hmph, whoever I used to be, I must've been quite strong."

She could thank her past self later, but those precious few seconds had cost her, with the other Beowolf having swiped at her with its claws. Not able to react in time, Ruby was thrown backwards, her Aura taking a good chunk of damage.

Skidding to a stop, Ruby had been able to collect herself in time, as the Grimm lunged at her once more. Rolling to the side, she immediately sprang up and stabbed the Grimm several times in the side.

The beast howled in pain, now seeing red and swiped at Ruby, even more frantic and intent on ending her there and then. Yet such blind, animalistic rage, proved to be its downfall.

Ruby's eyes flashed silver for a moment, with her being very focused on dodging the hits. Most of them missed, with the claws gracing her forearms a few times. Ultimately though, Ruby finally had stabbed the Beowolf into its mouth and subsequently, through its skull.

The beast went limp, falling to the ground like a bag of potatoes and started to fade away, much like its companion had done a few minutes earlier. Looking at her sword, Ruby noticed the black-blood like substance, which she ultimately saw was fading away too.

"Haha, that was fun!" Ruby chuckled, her aura having gone down by bit, but nothing too noticeable. Not only that, the itching for battle, had been satisfied too, with Ruby not feeling pumped with adrenaline anymore.

"Right, gotta get moving." Ruby grumbled, deciding to start running again. This time keeping to the road straight and not diverging through a forest like yesterday. She did notice she was much quicker than yesterday and didn't feel as tired either, once she had clocked in at around four hours of running.

Either her stamina yesterday was very depleted, or she was able to run much longer, now that she had been nearly-fully rested. Coming to a stop, she finally saw the village that Fuchsia had mentioned. "Ahh, crap-baskets."

There was one problem however.

It seemed to be under attack by Grimm. A large horde of them. There were some Huntsmen in the mix, but it was an unfair battle, two against several dozens of Grimm.. They likely could make do, but too many casualties would ensue.

Against her better judgement, Ruby had drawn her sword once more, deciding to get into the fray and start attacking Grimm too. The Huntsmen saw her, but didn't question it, instead welcoming the helping hand and being surprised at how she was handling herself.

Ruby for her part was having the time of her life. She was being cautious of course, the Beowolves being the easiest targets. The Ursa had been harder though, but she found out that the back of their neck had been the easiest place to pierce and slice and dice at. They had the lowest muscle density there and once their spinal cords had been severed, they simply fell.

Of course she took several blows herself, and while she was able to dodge much better due to her speed, it sometimes became a tunnel-vision, only making her focus on what was a head. It was a notable weakness she would have to focus on getting rid off later, as it was a major disadvantage otherwise.

The battle was over.

It had taken the better part of an hour, but most real battles didn't last longer than a few minutes at best. Ruby herself had taken down a majority of the Grimm and if she had counted right, it was around 33 she had killed.

Her Aura was dangerously close to breaking too, but the threat was over, and the villagers would be safe. That's all that mattered to her. "Phew, that was tiring!"

Getting up, Ruby inspected her blade, finding it stained black and a bit stumped at the top. "...need to find a whetstone later." Ruby noted, finally noticing the two Huntsmen approaching her.

A younger lady, who seemed a bit older than Ruby herself and some older woman. Surprisingly enough, the two of them looked similar.

"Hello there, we'd like to thank you for the help you provided." The girl spoke, introducing herself. "I am Chione Blanco, and this is my sister Orithyia Blanco."

"Nice to meet you." The elder sister of Chione spoke, in the same professional tone as her younger sister had.

If anything, Ruby could admit that their white hair and blue-eyes reminded her of something. Some kind of ice-related person, but she couldn't put her mind to it. "Oh yeah, no problem! Name's Ruby, nice to meet you two!"

She held out her hand for the usual handshake, and was positively met with a handshake from Chione and a fitting smile.

"Would you mind coming with us? We were about to get some lunch, but then the Village alarm went off and the whole Grimm horde came. If it hadn't been for you getting most of their attention…" Chione left the words unspoken, not wanting to think about the children or other defenseless civilians that could have died.

"Yeah." Ruby awkwardly shook her head, following the sisters and seeing that they went to some restaurant. She didn't complain, as it was free food and she barely had 100 lien on her person. Still, with them now seated, Ruby and the sisters had ordered their food.

"So, where do you come from?" Chione questioned, waiting for the food to arrive. "My sister and I hail from Atlas and are on a journey to train. We are from the noble Blanco house, you may have heard of it before."

Ruby thought about it, deciding to simply say. "I come from Vale, the lower parts that are less inhabited. Lived there myself and went on a journey to discover myself." Technically only a half-truth, with Ruby not liking to lie. Not that she could, given her amnesia made that near-impossible. Though Ruby did think it wasn't a good idea to tell some strangers about it right off the bat.

"I see." Orithyia commented, her eyes now focused on Ruby. The heiress of the Blanco Clan decided to further question. "Where did you learn to fight like you did? It was a bit brutish, but nevertheless effective. That and your aura still held on." It didn't help that Ruby had killed half of the Grimm on her lonesome, whereas the two sisters had killed the other half.

"Yeah, I was curious about that too." Chione put in her two cents, looking at Ruby expectantly. "Oh and don't worry about our status, right now we're just normal Huntsmen like you are."

Ruby was about to interject that she wasn't a huntress, but bit her tongue. It made things easier for now and would let the conversation flow on itself. Still, her next action was to rub the back of her head in a sheepish manner again. "Hehe, see 'bout that; I'm self-taught. I never had any teacher, as far as I remember."

Ruby really should stop with the half-lies. Otherwise, they would come to bite her in the ass later.

"Is that so?" Orithyia's eyes narrowed for a second, Ruby barely noticing that, as she let out a chuckle. "Haha, that is impressive! If you had a teacher, you would become even stronger than you are now." Orithyia wanted to keep an eye on this redhead for sure.

"Wow, all that without any guidance?" Chione blinked, wanting to test herself against the other Huntress now. "Do you mind having a spar with me once we're done eating and rested up a bit?" Of course the Blanco would spice the offer up a bit. "If you beat me, we'll pay you 5'000 Lien, in addition to the 2'000 you'll be receiving from the village later."

"Huh, why am I receiving money?" Ruby blinked, wondering about that. "Is it 'cause I helped protect it from Grimm? That's just doing my job though."

Orithyia spoke up. "Just accept it. We Hunters have to make money too in some way or another. It's best to not question it and just take it. That and this village has more than enough money."

"What if I lose though?" Of course Ruby questioned that, not wanting to agree to a deal without knowing all the details. She wasn't that stupid.

"Huh, looks like that handsome face of yours isn't just for show." Chione teased, as she smirked. "If you lose, then you have to accompany my sister and me until the next city and train with us. It would be a shame if you couldn't at least get a form down with that sword of yours."

"Huh-" Oh, Ruby finally got it. The two of them wanted to keep an eye on her. It was rather suspicious of someone to pop in and help take care of the Grimm without expecting any reward. Ruby really couldn't bring it to admit to herself that she helped out, because she craved that good battle.

It was a bit shameful, but she may have started to become a bit of a battle-junkie.

"Yeah, I agree." Ruby finally held out her fist for a fist bump. Seeing the confused look of Chione, Ruby groaned again. "Fist bump. Bump your fist against mine, please."

"Oh I see, this must be a Vale thing!" Chione chuckled, gleefully bumping her fist against that of Ruby and lowering it.

With their food done and eaten, Ruby decided to head out, the sisters following her. "Hey, can you two show me to the Inn you're staying at? But before that, can we go to the Village Chief and get our reward?"

"Of course, follow me." Orithyia replied and took the lead, the largest house being that of the Chief. After some formalities, some formal thanks, Ruby had received her money and was on the way to the inn with the Blanco sisters once more.

"Golden Dawn, what a fancy name." Ruby chuckled, wondering if she could get some training with her tail done after the sparring match.

"Yes, it costs a bit more than your average Inn daily, but it is good quality. Breakfast, and dinner included." Chione assured Ruby and told her. "Meet us in three hours outside, then we'll decide on where to hold the fight.

Ruby gave a tired thumbs-up, paying the fee and deciding to rest up in her room for a while. The tail itself had proven to be a bit of a weakness, especially as a Beowolf had managed to swipe at it. While her aura protected her, it made Ruby feel extremely weak for that moment, and with rage, she had pushed her fist against the Beowolf face, sending it flying back and into a tree.

At the time Ruby didn't pay it much mind, but the tree had shook rather badly, and she heard a sickening crunch as the Beowolf had stopped moving. "...I'll have to experiment with that later, but for now, how do I get rid of my two weaknesses?"

Those being her tunnel-vision when she was focusing on her speed and the aforementioned tail weakness. Maybe she could tie some weights to it, until the feeling in her tail would go away? She'd have to come up with something creative later, for now it was napping time.

Ruby had woken up 10 minutes before the three hours would pass and she had to meet up with the sisters. Using that time, she got herself awoken and put back on her clothing and cloak once more. She needed some more, maybe an extra pair that would be easy to stash away in her backpack.

"Some more stuff for later, ugh." The list really just kept on piling up, didn't it? Oh well, she wandered outside, seeing the Blanco duo already outside. "Oh, already outside?"

"I was a bit excited." Chione admitted, motioning for Ruby to follow her. She did and Chione led them to a clearing nearby the village, just perfect for a spar. "I hope you are ready, Ruby, because I won't hold back."

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Ruby spoke out, her blood pumping faster, with her sword drawn and her getting into the stance that felt natural to her. It was full of openings and clearly the work of an amateur. Still, with her raw power and speed, she should be able to make-do.

"I'll give you the opening move." Chione cockily spoke, smirking at Ruby and brandishing that scythe of hers once more.

Ruby hadn't paid too much attention to it earlier, as she had been enticed in the battle with Grimm, but for some reason, the scythe brought back a feeling of nostalgia.  _ Great, another amnesia thing. Does a scythe have a meaning to me? _ Ruby took the sword in a reverse grip, rushing at Chione with surprising speed and slashing diagonally at her.

It was Ruby's first-fight with a human post-amnesia and she wanted to measure herself up against them too.

Chione for her part was only marginally surprised by the speed, as she had observed Ruby fighting earlier. Hence the Blanco side-stepping, blocking the swing with her scythe and tripping Ruby.

The redhead cursed her tunnel-vision, as she went rolling and collided with a tree. It hurt quite a bit, nearly causing Ruby to unwrap her tail from around her waist, but she got back up quickly. "Ouch, that was dirty!"

Chione was about to remark, but instead Orithyia had spoken up, getting Ruby's attention. "There's no such thing as fair or unfair in battle. There is only victory or defeat. Keep that in mind, Ruby."

"I...guess you're right." Ruby frowned, somehow the idea of an unfair battle rubbing her the wrong way. She wanted a straight fight, but it seemed she would have to fight dirty too, if she wanted a chance of winning.

"Fine then." Rushing at Chione once more, Ruby pretended to do the same move as earlier, except this time had gone into a sliding motion.

The Blanco hadn't expected that, as she jumped up to avoid Ruby's kick, yet it proved to be a mistake, as Ruby used the momentum and gripped her hand onto the ground, before forcing one leg to kick herself up and land a kick on Chione's stomach with her other extended leg.

The kinetic energy from earlier had sent Chione flying, much like Ruby beforehand, but the Huntress was able to catch herself, landing on her feet and glaring at Ruby. "You learn quickly, I'm impressed."

"I learnt from the best." Ruby chuckled, having wanted to say that line just now. "Still, I get why fight dirty, but isn't this just a friendly spar?" It was a legit question, Ruby thought.

"That's how the real world works." Orithyia answered once more, as Chione continued. "There's no fair in this world, Ruby. Only surviving and that's what the strong do. They thrive and survive." The two sisters shared a glance with one another, but quickly returned their attention to Ruby once more.

Ruby hadn't noticed luckily, as she had gotten up in the meanwhile and rushed at Chione once more. Or rather, she would have, until the other seemingly vanished from sight. "Wha?" Hearing a slice in the air, Ruby was caught off-guard, as the invisible scythe had been slapped into her side. Thankfully Chione had used the blunt side of the scythe.

Still, it had sent Ruby tumbling to the side, with her looking even more confused. "Wh-What the?! Is she teleporting?" Ruby strained her eyes, looking around, but still being unable to see. "Where is she?"

"That's my Semblance." Chione's voice came from behind, as Ruby was kicked upwards and away once more. "I can turn invisible, for as long as I have my aura. Along with my gravity-dust enchanted boots, I'm not able to be heard either, unless I speak."

"Oh, that's quite the Semblance." Ruby finally understood what a Semblance was at least. So it was some kind of special ability you had and was fueled by Aura. Quite amazing, which would explain why her running all the time earlier had drained so much Aura.  _ Does that mean my Semblance is speed? _

While Ruby was having her mental monologue, Chione had already gone on the offensive once more, deciding to use her scythe's sharper side this time and started going at Ruby once more.

The redhead for her part was barely able to dodge, only her superior hearing helping her this time. Focusing on her speed and subsequently semblance, she heard the scythe slice through the air, giving a very light whistle sound that humans weren't able to hear.

"How do you keep dodging me?" Chione questioned, as only some of her blows were striking Ruby, the rest being dodged with a look of pure focus. Chione finally became visible again, as her Aura would otherwise drain too much.

"Uhh, instinct?" Yeah that was the best answer, Ruby starting her counterattack, now that Chione had become visible to the eye once more. The speedy blows translated into strong, raw blows too, with Ruby pushing Chione back now.

The Blanco had more experience and was incredibly strong, but Ruby had more physical, raw strength. A bit more, and Ruby would be able to win this!

Until Chione had gone invisible once more, making Ruby stumble forward and barely able to catch herself, as she was mid-blow, swinging her sword at Chione. About to turn around, Ruby found herself unable to move, as the scythe was now around her neck, which could prove to be a fatal move.

"I yield." Ruby spoke, holding up her hands, after dropping her sword to the ground. That's how one gave up, right? "You win, the bet you win too, so please remove the scythe, before you behead me." A bit of a poor joke.

But it seemed to work, as Chione had finally become visible again, panting just a bit. "Good...I was running low on Aura. My Semblance is quite draining you see." Still, she had won, which caused the Blanco to have another smug grin now. "You know what that means, Ruby."

"Yeah yeah, I'll accompany you too to the next city and help ye train." Ruby chuckled, very satisfied with the fight. If anything, she learned some things that she had to keep in mind from now on.

A few of which were; Never underestimate thy enemy. Never let your guard-down and always expect the weirdest abilities when it comes to Semblances. Of course the one she didn't really like too much, but had to gradually accept too; Never fight fair. In a fight with say, bandits or mercenaries, it could cost her life.

Another thing Ruby noted, she wasn't really out of breath like Chione and her Aura had only been consumed by around half. If anything, Ruby felt herself grow stronger with every fight she was in. Was this known as the result of training? If anything, it confirmed to Ruby that it was a good way to get stronger from now on.

One would ask how Ruby had noticed such a thing. Ruby's only answer was that she felt the difference. For example, earlier today, she wouldn't have been able to do that sliding kick move against Chione, but after a good fight with the Grimm, some resting up and she was sure she could pull it off once more.

"Hello, Remnant to Ruby?" Chione waved her hand in-front of Ruby's face. "Are you daydreaming?"

Blinking a couple of times, Ruby was surprised to see Chione so close to her face, before shaking her head. "Sorry, just reflected on the fight, sorta."

"It was a good battle, especially for someone untrained like you." Orithyia finally spoke up, having observed the battle intensely. "You have an odd way of fighting, but it is unique. I feel like training with you is going to be fun, but keep in mind." Orithyia leaned in close to Ruby, those icy-blue eyes sending a shiver down Ruby's spine. "I'm stronger than my sister and won't go easy on you like she did."

Ruby backed off, wondering if that was a threat or just the other's way of teasing. It must have been the latter, as Orithyia gave a grin and giggled, while patting Chione on the head.

"You did good Chione, I'm proud of you." Chione seemed to beam at the praise of her big sister. "Still, you used your Semblance a bit carelessly. We have to work on it being less draining for you, or work on expanding your Aura reserves. If we can do both, that means you can uphold it longer. Keep that in mind from now on."

Chione gave a nod, while Ruby wondered if she could receive some advice too.

Orithyia noticed, patting Ruby on the head too, which earned her more blinks from the red-haired warrior. "You need to be less brash about things. You let your guard down several times and you stumble far too easily. Keep your foot work closer together and focus not only on raw speed and strength, but skill and technique too. No worries, Chione and I will help you with that, as long as you help us train too."

Ruby understood what the other meant, some of the points Orithyia had mentioned, she hadn't thought off herself. "I see. I thank you two for this opportunity of training and I promise to pay you back too." She nearly said 'Make it worth your trouble.' But that felt like it was rude to say and Ruby wasn't rude!

She was sassy, something totally different.

"Well then, it's settled. You'll be leaving the village with us in two days then." Orithyia spoke, deciding to take Chione and leave Ruby be for now. "We'll be meeting in two days again, and don't worry, we know where you'll be."

"How? Can one of you sense my energy or something?" Ruby questioned, quite perplexed.

"Yes, I can. It's a rare skill that few people can do, but you can learn it with hard training." Chione pointed at herself and offered. "We can teach it to you during the journey."

"That'd be helpful." Sensing energy sounded very enticing, with Ruby nearly jumping at the offer.

Still, now she had 2'100 Lien, which meant it was time to hit the shops again!

"Let's see, I'mma put aside 300 Lien for snacks and drinks. Which means I have around 1'800 Lien left to buy some weapons or accessories." For some reason, Ruby felt like it was a good idea to buy a protective choker. Not because she was kinky, but because it would fit her current style.

Give her a break, she was still a girl and Fuchsia did tell her that she was way too handsome for her own good. Chione even had commented on it! "I need to stop speaking to myself." Ruby grumbled, going into a clothing store and finding a black choker, as well as a pair of fingerless gloves to buy.

Finally hitting the smithy shop, she bought herself a whetstone, as well as a smaller side-arm. Surprisingly enough, the pistols around these parts were rather cheap, a Glock 18 with a few ammo cartridges cost around 1'200. Alongside that, Ruby had bought a small dagger, which she'd be holstering on the opposite leg of her leg, alongside the pistol.

All in all, she was left with no more money, Ruby beginning to think it might have been a good decision to save up some money, but decided against it.  _ Survival is the most important thing. Money is useless if I die. _

With those grim thoughts, Ruby returned to the Inn and headed into her room. After modifying her outfit a bit, she decided to try and learn how to sew later. Maybe that would allow her to fix her own clothing later and not have to buy new ones each time they were shredded or destroyed.

Surprisingly enough, her cloak was the most durable thing on her person, if one didn't count metallic things like a dagger, sword and the Glock 18. Ruby didn't question it, the cloak meant something to her pre-amnesia and it still held a lot of meaning to her.

"I need to learn how to shoot this thing-" Yet when Ruby held it in her hand, she surprisingly was hit with a wave of memories. It gave her a bit of a headache, but she knew how to handle a lot of types of weapons. Her past self seemed to be obsessed with them, much like she had guessed right.

"I know how to fight with...a pistol, shotguns and even snipers….Huh, that could come in handy later." Again, she was mostly relying on muscle memory, but it was what it was, with Ruby putting the pistol's safety on and putting it on the table.

The dagger itself took a bit of time to get used to. It was much lighter than the sword and had a shorter reach too, meaning the red-head could attack much quicker and more precise with it, but had to get in really close with it. She had practiced for the better part of four hours again, until she heard a knock on the door and was informed that dinner had been served.

Hearing her stomach growl, Ruby chuckled, putting her weaponry on the table and getting down. She decided to do the same thing she did last time, fill her plate with a lot of food. For some reason her hunger kept increasing and she kept eating more and more, yet her figure didn't seem to get any fatter. If anything, it was like it was fuel to herself.

"Oh well." Another shrug, as she simply accepted it and chalked it down to having a very fast metabolism. Finally, she strained her ears, focusing in on the conversations around and being a bit embarrassed at what she was hearing.

' _ Did you see that red-haired huntress earlier today? She was tearing through those Grimm like a madwoman!' _

' _ Yes, it was quite the sight to behold. The other two Huntsmen weren't half-bad either, but they seemed more in control, than that girl.' _

Ruby decided to stop listening in, for reasons that her face may get even redder, as people were praising her and wondering about her rage earlier today. Of course she saw the Blanco sisters in the corner too, deciding to eavesdrop on them too.

' _ Ruby is quite strong, but it feels like she is hiding some things.' _

' _ Why do you say that, Chione?' _

' _ Have you ever heard of an untrained huntress before?' Chione asked, still continuing. 'I want to know what is up with her, it might help us during training.' _

' _ Little Sister, you know that people are entitled to their secrets.' _

' _ But I-' _

' _ No buts, Chione. Much like us, she has a right to privacy too.' _

With that the duo had quieted down, with Orithyia glancing at Ruby from the side, Chione not noticing. Ruby for her part had stiffened up a bit, not having expected for Orithyia to notice her.

Thankfully her plate had been finished, so she could put it back and return to her room, the anxiety of before slowly fading away. If anything, she just did what the two of them hadn't. "I feel guilty." Ruby admitted to herself, opting to apologize later for what she did.

Oh well, she was fed now and could continue training with the dagger for a bit. She really needed to get a scroll, as she heard some mumbling about the internet earlier. She knew partially what it was from common sense, but felt that it could help her in her training and further it too.

Another few hours had passed, with Ruby now feeling much more comfortable with the weight and feel of the dagger. She decided to holster her weapons onto her pants and go out for a few laps around the village. It was large enough and she could keep her eyes out on Grimm too, kill them too, if she came across them.

So that's how she spent her evening, running several laps around the village with her high-speed Semblance. Ruby stopped after the 16th lap, which equaled around the path she had taken from the first village, to this one.

Still, she had to stare at the fallen tree. It was an embarrassing accident, one that Ruby wouldn't admit had happened to her. She had been so lost in thought, going quicker and quicker, that she collided with a tree at full force, uprooting it and knocking herself flat for the better part of five minutes.

It was a good thing she was so thickheaded, otherwise she would have suffered a concussion by now. Finally returning to the inn, it had been around night time by now. Ruby was very tired from all the things she did today, and moved to the bed, falling asleep after having removed her belongings from her persona.

Awakening, Ruby had to decide on what to do today. After a bit of thinking, she decided to take this last day and do some more requests, if only to get more Lien. She seemed to be always short on Lien, so yeah that was the sole reason she had.

Finding the board hadn't been so hard, as it was right next to the inn. Likely because of Hunters going there and all that jazz. Looking for some tasks, Ruby saw some rather interesting ones.

'Bodyguard Escort Mission.'

'Help get rid of some pests on the farm.'

'Clean-Up Help.'

'Sorting out Files.'

Ruby took all four of the task letters and decided to do the latter three, while taking the first one to Chione and Orithyia, deciding to let them know ahead of time. "Yo there. I found a task that pays well, around 3'000 Lien to escort someone to the next major city and protect them from Grimm, bandits and stuff."

Chione was about to say no, but remembered that Ruby wasn't as rich as them. "Yeah, we can do it. It's on route anyways, so we can kill two birds with a stone." Looking at Orithyia for approval, she saw the nod and bid Ruby adieu for now, while having taken the task letter with her.

Ruby went ahead and did the two sorting out and cleaning up missions herself. They were rather easy, as she just had to help clean up the mess the Grimm from yesterday had caused, as well as sort out some folders here and there, as the secretary was sick today and someone needed to step in for her.

They paid 600 Lien each, Ruby simply accepting it as the village having a higher profile than the other.

Then came the final mission, as she had to get rid of some 'pests' or rather Grimm that were terrorizing the nearby farm. "Oh, that's gonna be funny." It did help that it paid more than double the amount, at 1'400 Lien. "I swear to god, I'm not getting greedy with money."

Shaking her head, she approached the farmers and asked for details, as well as to tell them she accepted the task. Apparently it was a very big bear and several Beowolfs accompanying it.

"Oh, I hope it isn't another Ursa." With Ruby's luck though, she knew it would be. Still, she got to work, hoping up on a tree and looking around. It had been a quiet hour, until she heard some nearby trampling. Heavy footsteps, that were heavier than any human ever could hope to be. Hence why she had aimed her gun downwards, sending several bullets at the Beowolves and stunning them.

The pistol hadn't had enough firepower to take them down, but that made it easy for Ruby to drop down, dagger in hand and push it deep into the first wolf's head, cracking through the skull. Pushing herself off of it with her legs, and taking her dagger with her, Ruby had used her speed Semblance and went for the next one, which had met the same fate as the last one.

Taking her dagger back, Ruby kicked herself off once more, but was met in mid-air by the gigantic paw of the Ursa, who had swiped her away. She had been sent flying, but much like she had seen Chione do yesterday, Ruby managed to copy those moves and landed on her feet, but not as gracefully.

"That thing is...big." That was the best way to describe it, as it towered over Ruby. It would be best to attack the thing and test its speed for now, Ruby reasoned and went for it. Her speed semblance not in full-force, Ruby sliced at the thing several times, dodging those paws to the best of her ability and even using her sword to deflect and redirect some of those blows.

She couldn't really parry them or counter either, as the Ursa's striking power was enormous and would just cause Ruby's arms to take unnecessary damage. The battle continued for a while, with Grimm having been more and more injured, it's belly nearly cut open. Furthermore, it's legs were damaged, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Phew, you were a tough guy." Ruby praised, about to move her sword and plunge it down, only for the bear Grimm to bite her using its last strength. It had bitten hard into her arm, with her Aura struggling to keep up. Without hesitation and fueled by rage, Ruby sliced the bear's head clean off, which caused it to let go of the warrior's arm.

"Fuck!" Ruby cursed, holding her arm as pain coursed through it. Thankfully her aura was already working on healing it, but the point remained. Ruby had gotten cocky and let her guard down again, something which would be her downfall one day.

They did say pride cometh before the fall, which was a rather accurate saying, now that Ruby thought about it.

"I wonder why I'm so keen on my pride? I really need to get myself in order." There also was the whole talking to herself thing, but she thought that part was relatively normal.

Regardless, her glove had been torn a bit, but otherwise she seemed rather fine...ignoring the bite marks on her exposed arm. Informing the farmers about it, they thanked Ruby very much and paid some etra, Ruby once more accepting and telling them that anyone would have done it.

Really, people were too thankful at times, and while Ruby was grateful, she really was, she had a hard time accepting such gratitude thanks to her pride. It really was several issues Ruby had to be working on, some of which nearly cost her arm earlier. Yet the thought of death didn't really terrify her, as she had been close to it once before, even if Ruby couldn't remember when it really was. "Whatever, I just wanna go sleep.."

Trudging the path back, and finally returning to her inn room once again, Ruby did the only thing she thought was a good idea. Which was to strop herself down to her underwear, and simply plop down on the bed. Another dreamless sleep immediately took her, as the events of the day had been especially tiring and the fatigue had finally caught up to Ruby.

Hopefully she would be alright and rested up for the journey tomorrow and for the adventures laying ahead too.


	2. Chapter 1: Escort

There was a ringing sound in her ears when she awoke. As if an explosion had gone off in the distance and yet the annoying sound was overshadowed by the pain she felt all over. At least she still was able to move her body, but her vision was blacked out. Finally moving her hands to her face, with a lot of effort, she was able to clear some of the rubble obstructing her view.

"Nghh.." The female found herself on the edge of some ruins, a lot of stones having buried her body some. It was a shock and surprise that she didn't have any broken bones, and if anything, she mostly felt pain from all her muscles aching every time she moved. With a lot of effort, she managed to stand up, dusting herself off finally.

Yet all this pain was bearable enough, she had other worries. A worry which included why she couldn't remember anything. Not where she was, how she came to be buried under a pile of stones and most importantly, _who was she?_

The girl wandered around the ruins for a bit, finding a mirror after a few minutes of exploration. It was broken, shattered into many pieces. _Shattered, but whole_. It amused the girl for some reason, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Regardless, she had moved on to inspect herself in the mirror.

Red-hair, about shoulder-length. Silver-Eyes that seemed confused, yet held some spark of purity in them and finally, her attire. It was in tatters, but still held up well enough. Yet she would be in need of new clothing the moment she got her hands on some. Of course there was the red cape too.

It made the red-haired girl feel...sad, to see it so burned up and in pieces. It barely went past her knees at this point and had a more rugged look to it now. Still, she finished checking herself out, finding the name of _**Ruby**_ , on the underwear. Was that her name? Or was it just the color of the underwear she was wearing?

"M-My na…" She wasn't able to speak. Not out of exhaustion, but because her throat was dry. Ruby didn't know how long she was laying there, but it must have been a while. Still, there was a shop nearby, still on the edge of town, where she could avoid those...things.

By things, she meant the creatures of Grimm, which seemed to be attracted to the Dragon hurdled on the tower in the distance. Ruby hadn't been able to guess why they were going there, where she even was or how the dragon tower came to be, but it was in her best interest to steer clear of that at all costs.

Sneaking towards the shop, she wasn't surprised to find it in a near-ruined state. Ruby let out a sigh, wondering why the Grimm had done this, or was it someone else? Still, she was able to find some unharmed packs of juice, as well as some food. Sitting down, she had eaten them with great gusto, consuming them a bit slower, so her throat wouldn't hurt from too much at once.

She had eaten for a good 10 minutes, consuming as much as her body allowed her to. The trash had piled up, Ruby dumping it in the nearby trash can and realizing that she didn't have to, but did so out of being polite. She took the rest she didn't eat or drink and stashed it into a nearby backpack, deciding to take them as rations for her journey ahead. By her estimates, it should last her about three to four days.

Taking a minute to thank the not-present shop-owner, Ruby made a mental note to pay him if she remembers it in the future. On the note of money, she checked the cash-register, taking as much lien as her pockets could hold. It equaled to around 2'500 lien, which she didn't know if it was much, but hopefully it would be.

With that out of the way, Ruby reached out for her weapon...Why did she do that? Did she used to have a weapon attached to her lower back? It must have been muscle memory, as Ruby couldn't recall anything else about it due to her amnesia.

"How annoying." Clenching her teeth, Ruby was happy that she could finally speak again. "Oh well, time to get a move on." Perhaps she should stop talking to herself while she was at it too.

Getting out of the shop, she moved to the outside of the ruined city, and while she still held many questions, she would have to get them later, once she was out of the danger zone. She could have started to run, but there was too much danger of being found. Yet another idea came to mind, as she chose not to cross the streets.

Instead she went up to the rooftops, having leapt a great distance up there. Ruby didn't know how it was possible, but it felt natural to do, and without further ado, she began sprinting to the edge and to the walls, which she was able to jump onto too, after half a dozen failed attempts.

On top of the walls, she saw an incredible sight. Green forest as far as her eyes could see, with some regions to the left looking greener, while the right seemed to be in a snowy region. Deciding to go where the grass was greener, Ruby jumped down, landing on the ground with a visible thud, a small crater forming.

Her knees had to take the impact, but it was mostly absorbed by her Aura.

Yet another thing that Ruby somehow instinctively knew about, Aura. It was weird to say the least, as if it was an extension of her soul, but able to be manipulated into energy of sorts. She'd have to look into it more later, see what she could do with it, but for now, she had to get a move on.

Her supplies would last her for a while and hopefully she would come across a village. Maybe there she could buy some new clothing, as with her current attire, she looked like nothing more than a homeless hobo.

Of course such was only her short-term objective, with her primary objective being to find out who she was and whether or not she can retrieve her memories. Ruby reasoned that a blow to the head must have erased or blocked her memories for the time being.

Maybe it was a crash-landing? It would explain why she woke up in those ruins. Still, she had to keep moving forward or with all this guessing, making assumptions and more, she'd never make it before night falls.

"I shoulda looked for camping supplies too." Ruby groaned, as she was now moving at speeds that the naked eye barely could follow. She was subconsciously tapping into her Speed Semblance without realizing it, assuming it to be her normal speed.

Her eyes didn't water or dry out from all the wind lashing against her from the insane speed, as her Aura automatically protected them. She had to admit, this whole Aura thing really came into handy, with the only thing she had to worry about being avoiding trees, Grimm and the local wild-life.

Most of them didn't even see her pass by, while Grimm for some reason steered off her for now. Was it because she reeked rather bad? If yes, then Ruby took offense to Grimm from now on. "I know I likely haven't showered while I was knocked out, but still, how rude." Ruby finally quieted down, focusing on the road once more.

* * *

After what felt like hours of running at high speed, with Ruby's Aura being half-depleted by now, she finally saw a village on the horizon. Slowing down, she came to a skid close to the village, walking the rest of the way. Looking up at the sky, Ruby saw that it was likely only a bit into the afternoon.

Walking inside, she got some looks due to her tattered attire, chuckling in a sheepish manner and rubbing the back of her head too, as she apologized for the unsightly image.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where a clothing store is?" Ruby had asked in a polite manner

The civilian pointed at the other end of the street, at a purple building. "Over there. It's called Tardray."

With a thank you and a wave, Ruby bid goodbye and moved to the shop, entering it and looking upwards as she heard the bell rang.

"Is anyone there?" Called out the voice of a woman, who had looked up from the newspaper she was reading. She had pink hair, tied up into a folded ponytail. Ruby could only describe her attire and face as nothing short of beautiful. "Oh dear, what happened to you?"

"Uh-Hello." Stunned a bit, Ruby was able to let that out at the least. "My name is Ruby, and as you can see, I'm in dire need of new clothing, hehe." Another sheepish laugh, as the red-haired explained. "I have a budget of 2'500 Lien, do you think I can get an entire outfit with that, miss? Preferably red-black based like my current one?"

"I think I can throw something for you together, for around 2'000 Lien. Would that be okay?" The Shopkeeper spoke, not waiting for an answer, as she hushed Ruby inside and told her to get undressed in the dressing room.

"Yeah, that should leave me with enough for a night at the inn here." Ruby hoped she was right, wondering if it was a smarter decision to check the price first, before coming clothes shopping. Still, she did as she was instructed, removing the tattered costume of hers, while putting the cloak to the side.

"Yeah, a night costs 300 lien, so you're in the green." The clerk answered, handing Ruby over the clothes. "These should fit you well, but if you're in need of more combat-oriented attire, you need more money, as well head to the next larger village south of here." If anything, from the way Ruby held herself, the clerk could tell she was a warrior of sorts. "You're a huntress, are you not?"

"I...Yeah, I must be." Ruby looked at the raised eyebrow of the merchant, but decided to change the topic. "These look good on me, can I pay now?" What the other had gotten her were a black shirt, as well as some fitting black-gloves. On the bottom part, she still had similar combat boots, alongside crimson cargo-pants, which had plenty of pockets in them, so she could fit more things in them.

"You look amazing dear, I would even call you handsome." The pink-haired saleswoman spoke and decided to pull something out from underneath the counter. "Could you come here for a second? I want to style your hair, free-of-charge."

Ruby debated it, before finally nodding. It did no harm, and she was in need of that anyways, as her hair got into her sight. "Can you help me spike it up a bit? Or did you have any other intentions?"

"That's what I had in mind. I called you handsome, so I might as well add to that." With that out of the way, Ruby and the clerk spent the better part of 20 minutes, helping get Ruby's hair spiked up, as she wanted.

To the clerk's surprise, Ruby's hair seemed to naturally defy gravity. "Oh my, you look not only handsome, but dashing too!"

Ruby blushed at that, awkwardly chuckling and accepting the compliment. "Thank you ma'am, I owe you big time...also if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"My name is Fuchsia, it was pleasant doing business with you." The newly-identified Fuchsia spoke, winking at Ruby and finally taking the money. "Here's a pack of hair-gel, free of charge. Make sure to keep that hairstyle, it suits you very well, Ruby."

Clipping back on her cloak, Ruby paid the money and stashed the hair-gel into her backpack as well. "It was nice meeting you too, Fuchsia. I hope we see each other again someday, so goodbye!"

Ruby left through the door, giving one last wave and then started moving out once more.

"Nice miss, and hey, I dun' look like a hobo anymore." Ruby chuckled, while looking around for the inn. If what she heard was right, it was just around the corner, and lo and behold, she had found it after a few failed identification of buildings.

Paying for the fee, Ruby was now left with 200 lien, and she had put her backpack in the corner and decided to lay down. Or rather was about to, as Ruby had felt a stinging pain on the lower-end of her back, just above her butt. Putting her hand on it, she couldn't feel anything, but a slight bulge.

"Ouch, I musta hit my butt or something." For now she thought about what she could do and then it came to mind. There must have been some odd-jobs or even a request board that she could do to earn some money.

From the vague memories that started resurfacing slowly, mostly about common sense stuff, she was able to recall every village on Remnant had such a board, as per request for Huntsman and Mercenaries. Taking the keycard, she locked the door and went to ask the inn owner for it.

He told Ruby that it was in the middle of town and hard to miss, and surprisingly enough, Ruby was able to quickly find it. She saw some odd requests on it, like 'Catching a Cat', 'Plucking out Weed', or some stranger ones 'Being a Test Model for new clothing.' She did see that it was from Fuchsia, so she thought it was best to take those three aforementioned tasks.

Each of them would net her around 200 Lien each, which meant that her total would get back up to 800 once she was done.

"Yosha!...Why did I say that?" Yeah, Ruby just chalked it down to being a habit she had, before amnesia hit her with a bat.

Catching the cat was easy with her speed, but the thing scratching at her had been annoying. It took long to find the address of the owner, who was someone that Ruby could only describe as ojou-sama.

The plucking out weed quest was more dirty than anything, but Ruby managed to do it in record time too, the farmer having given her 100 bonus Lien for that. Thanking them, Ruby finally moved onto the final task.

It took a couple of minutes to find her way again, but the purple building stood out, next to all the brown and otherwise average looking buildings. Letting out a chuckle, Ruby finally entered.

Back in the shop, Ruby greeted Fuchsia once more, holding out the task letter she had taken. "Heey there, looks like I'll be doing your request, if you're okay with it, Fuchsia?" Considering she felt a bit more familiar with the pink-haired acquaintance she made.

"Back so soon?" Fuchsia asked, perplexed, but upon seeing the request she made, made her nod. "You're just the perfect size too, please come with me." Fuchsia stood up, leading Ruby to the back of the shop and pulling the curtains up after.

Ruby did as before, unclipping her cloak from around her neck and hanging it to the side. After more instructions were passed, she undressed once more and the two ladies had a little fashion montage, with Ruby trying out a plethora of different outfits and combinations.

A couple of hours had passed, with the evening soon beginning and Ruby deciding to retire to the inn, where dinner was being served. It was a sizable portion, with Ruby gulping it down and thanking the chef for the delicious food, before moving to her room once more.

The little fashion show with Fuchsia was fun and enjoyable, but also tiring. There it Fuchsia also wanted to exchange numbers with Ruby, but Ruby revealed that she didn't possess a scroll and told her that the next time they met, she'd have one and exchange numbers with the pink-haired girl.

With that all of the way, Ruby had gotten another 200 extra Lien, and had argued with Fuchsia that she'd just get the normal reward, but the fashionista just wouldn't accept no for an answer, leaving Ruby with no choice, but to accept. It did leave her back with a total of 1'100 Lien, so it was a start to say the least.

Still, Ruby was now laying down on the bed, thinking about how the day had gone by. She had awoken in those ruins, able to salvage some stuff and generally felt pain in the lower end of her back, to the point it was getting bothersome. She was able to ignore it throughout the day, wondering if maybe painkillers could have helped mend it.

Another thought crossed her mind, as she stared at the map hung on the wall. The place she had awoken in was Vale, or more specifically the ruins of it. Word had already reached to ears around that the Academy had fallen. Ruby wondered what caused such, but once again thanks to Mister amnesia, she couldn't be able to recall.

Other things she had to get done, was to find clues to her lost past, maybe even a person or two that knew her, but the chances of such were slim. Finally, she had to get herself some kind of weapon, preferable something that was easy to maintain. Perhaps a short-sword or similar would fit?

Ruby had seen a smithy earlier, but it was too late now to go there. She could do it first thing in the morning. For now, she took a nap, having already been sleepy from all the running she did earlier this morning. It still amazed her at how quick she was, maybe she could become even quicker?

Those thoughts occupied her, as Ruby drifted off into sleep. While one would usually expect for there to be a nightmare or flashes of the past, for Ruby it had been a dreamless sleep, the fatigue and shock of it all having caught up to her too.

* * *

Much later, with the sunrise happening, Ruby awoke. She felt much better rested, but also wondered why the pain on her lower back had now stopped. Feeling for it, she gave a couple of blinks, as something seemed to extend from there.

Fearing the worst, Ruby rubbed her eyes awake and saw a tail...a brown tail. It looked like a monkey's tail to be more exact, but why did she have one? Wasn't she human? Or did she become a monkey faunus overnight?

"No, something like that ain't possible." Ruby shook her head, deciding to stand up and try to move the limb. It took half a hour for her to figure out how to work those tail muscles, until she finally could move it with a bit of conscious effort. Still, to not stand out, or be discriminated like Faunus usually would be, she came up with an idea.

Poking a hole into the cargo pants she had bought, just right enough size for her tail to slip in, Ruby had finished putting on her clothing and wrapped her tail around her waist. It looked like a furbelt that kept her pants from slipping off, so that was a success!

Still, now she had another mystery to solve, already adding more stress to her than before. "How troublesome." Still, she had to focus, she didn't want to be too distracted like yesterday.

Moving out of the room, she decided to have some last breakfast, which was a plate even larger than yesterday. Thanking the owner once more, she handed over the keycard and bid them goodbye.

She debated on whether or not to say goodbye to Fuchsia too, but decided against it, due to the tail that had sprouted, seemingly, overnight. It would only lead to questions she couldn't answer right now. Looking up, she found herself standing before the smithy shop.

"I musta been lost in thought." Shaking her head, she entered, looking around and for some reason...felt very comfortable. It's as if the weapons here...she knew how to use some of them, seemed to have knowledge on how they were forged and how they worked.

"Not again." Another headshake, with Ruby snapping her thoughts away, wondering if that was something she did pre-amnesia too. Gush about weapons, how weird. "Hello there!"

"Oi hello young lass!" The mustached man greeted, his accent as thick as his burly arms. "'Ow can I help ya?" He sounded rather friendly.

"I'm in need of a weapon. I have a budget of 1'000 lien, do you think I can get a sword or somethin' like that with it?" Ruby had to stop letting her own accent slip through. It sounded as if she had grown up on a farm of sorts.

"I sure do, ye!" Rummaging around for a bit, the smithy took out a sword, which looked about as average as it could get. "Oi I see, ya hev en eye for weapons, don' ya lassie?"

Sweat-dropping, Ruby gave a nod, deciding to roll with it. "Yeah, I have some experience. That sword looks well-made, it shows how experienced you are." Taking out the 1'000 Lien and leaving Ruby with 100 left, she bought the sword.

"Oi, thanks, and here ya hav' dis too!" A sheath, something that Ruby could holster the sword around with. "'Tis on the hous', from a fella weapon lov' to 'nother!"

Ruby gave a thanks, taking the two items and leaving the shop. She understood what the smithy said, but didn't want to push it too far. Any talk into weapons would be bad, because she barely remembered anything, aside from her muscle memory.

Putting the holster onto her side, she secured the sword and finally got out of the village. The day she had spent there would be fondly remembered, mostly because of Fuchsia being a nice girl and having helped her out so much. Alongside the general kindness too, even the weird smithy had been nice too.

Ruby made a mental note to thank the two of them the next time she passed by here, but for now she started taking it slowly. Running yesterday had exhausted her to use up half of her aura, and she needed that, in-case she encountered bandits, Grimm or worse.

She had overheard talks about this route to the next major village being rather safe, but some incidents befalling it lately. "Heh, looks like it was a good idea eavesdropping on conversations during dinner and breakfast at the inn." Of course unbeknownst to Ruby, her hearing was extremely good, borderline super-hearing, which made it easier for her to listen in on the chats.

Still, for some reason her thoughts delved into battle territory, with Ruby wanting to fight something. She wondered where those thoughts came from, but they were quickly squashed aside, as she finally came across a couple of Beowolf. "Must be scouts."

From what she heard, they usually came in huge herds, so only a few of them meant that they likely were trying to find some food. At the least Ruby thought so, but she couldn't be certain and ultimately, ended up not caring.

She itched for a fight, which led to her drawing her sword. While it would be a problem, what with her not knowing how to use a sword in the first place, she reasoned that she should be able to make-do and improvise.

"Hey you big furry balls, I'm here!" Ruby shouted, deciding to go in with the usual plan of hitting them very hard.

It seemed to work, as the two Beowolves had inspected her for a bit, before howling out and rushing at her. Ruby had to admit, they were pretty quick, but she was quicker.

"Yosha!" There it was again, that bad habit from before. Oh well, Ruby rushed at the slower Beowolf, her sword at the ready, as she went for the stab to the neck. The Beowolf wasn't able to react in time, not having expected the red-haired female to be so quick and promptly was killed.

The sword did its job well, with Ruby having sliced it out of the side of the Grimm's neck, finding it easy to do so for some reason. "Hmph, whoever I used to be, I must've been quite strong."

She could thank her past self later, but those precious few seconds had cost her, with the other Beowolf having swiped at her with its claws. Not able to react in time, Ruby was thrown backwards, her Aura taking a good chunk of damage.

Skidding to a stop, Ruby had been able to collect herself in time, as the Grimm lunged at her once more. Rolling to the side, she immediately sprang up and stabbed the Grimm several times in the side.

The beast howled in pain, now seeing red and swiped at Ruby, even more frantic and intent on ending her there and then. Yet such blind, animalistic rage, proved to be its downfall.

Ruby's eyes flashed silver for a moment, with her being very focused on dodging the hits. Most of them missed, with the claws gracing her forearms a few times. Ultimately though, Ruby finally had stabbed the Beowolf into its mouth and subsequently, through its skull.

The beast went limp, falling to the ground like a bag of potatoes and started to fade away, much like its companion had done a few minutes earlier. Looking at her sword, Ruby noticed the black-blood like substance, which she ultimately saw was fading away too.

"Haha, that was fun!" Ruby chuckled, her aura having gone down by bit, but nothing too noticeable. Not only that, the itching for battle, had been satisfied too, with Ruby not feeling pumped with adrenaline anymore.

"Right, gotta get moving." Ruby grumbled, deciding to start running again. This time keeping to the road straight and not diverging through a forest like yesterday. She did notice she was much quicker than yesterday and didn't feel as tired either, once she had clocked in at around four hours of running.

Either her stamina yesterday was very depleted, or she was able to run much longer, now that she had been nearly-fully rested. Coming to a stop, she finally saw the village that Fuchsia had mentioned. "Ahh, crap-baskets."

There was one problem however.

It seemed to be under attack by Grimm. A large horde of them. There were some Huntsmen in the mix, but it was an unfair battle, two against several dozens of Grimm.. They likely could make do, but too many casualties would ensue.

Against her better judgement, Ruby had drawn her sword once more, deciding to get into the fray and start attacking Grimm too. The Huntsmen saw her, but didn't question it, instead welcoming the helping hand and being surprised at how she was handling herself.

Ruby for her part was having the time of her life. She was being cautious of course, the Beowolves being the easiest targets. The Ursa had been harder though, but she found out that the back of their neck had been the easiest place to pierce and slice and dice at. They had the lowest muscle density there and once their spinal cords had been severed, they simply fell.

Of course she took several blows herself, and while she was able to dodge much better due to her speed, it sometimes became a tunnel-vision, only making her focus on what was a head. It was a notable weakness she would have to focus on getting rid off later, as it was a major disadvantage otherwise.

The battle was over.

It had taken the better part of an hour, but most real battles didn't last longer than a few minutes at best. Ruby herself had taken down a majority of the Grimm and if she had counted right, it was around 33 she had killed.

Her Aura was dangerously close to breaking too, but the threat was over, and the villagers would be safe. That's all that mattered to her. "Phew, that was tiring!"

Getting up, Ruby inspected her blade, finding it stained black and a bit stumped at the top. "...need to find a whetstone later." Ruby noted, finally noticing the two Huntsmen approaching her.

A younger lady, who seemed a bit older than Ruby herself and some older woman. Surprisingly enough, the two of them looked similar.

"Hello there, we'd like to thank you for the help you provided." The girl spoke, introducing herself. "I am Chione Blanco, and this is my sister Orithyia Blanco."

"Nice to meet you." The elder sister of Chione spoke, in the same professional tone as her younger sister had.

If anything, Ruby could admit that their white hair and blue-eyes reminded her of something. Some kind of ice-related person, but she couldn't put her mind to it. "Oh yeah, no problem! Name's Ruby, nice to meet you two!"

She held out her hand for the usual handshake, and was positively met with a handshake from Chione and a fitting smile.

"Would you mind coming with us? We were about to get some lunch, but then the Village alarm went off and the whole Grimm horde came. If it hadn't been for you getting most of their attention…" Chione left the words unspoken, not wanting to think about the children or other defenseless civilians that could have died.

"Yeah." Ruby awkwardly shook her head, following the sisters and seeing that they went to some restaurant. She didn't complain, as it was free food and she barely had 100 lien on her person. Still, with them now seated, Ruby and the sisters had ordered their food.

"So, where do you come from?" Chione questioned, waiting for the food to arrive. "My sister and I hail from Atlas and are on a journey to train. We are from the noble Blanco house, you may have heard of it before."

Ruby thought about it, deciding to simply say. "I come from Vale, the lower parts that are less inhabited. Lived there myself and went on a journey to discover myself." Technically only a half-truth, with Ruby not liking to lie. Not that she could, given her amnesia made that near-impossible. Though Ruby did think it wasn't a good idea to tell some strangers about it right off the bat.

"I see." Orithyia commented, her eyes now focused on Ruby. The heiress of the Blanco Clan decided to further question. "Where did you learn to fight like you did? It was a bit brutish, but nevertheless effective. That and your aura still held on." It didn't help that Ruby had killed half of the Grimm on her lonesome, whereas the two sisters had killed the other half.

"Yeah, I was curious about that too." Chione put in her two cents, looking at Ruby expectantly. "Oh and don't worry about our status, right now we're just normal Huntsmen like you are."

Ruby was about to interject that she wasn't a huntress, but bit her tongue. It made things easier for now and would let the conversation flow on itself. Still, her next action was to rub the back of her head in a sheepish manner again. "Hehe, see 'bout that; I'm self-taught. I never had any teacher, as far as I remember."

Ruby really should stop with the half-lies. Otherwise, they would come to bite her in the ass later.

"Is that so?" Orithyia's eyes narrowed for a second, Ruby barely noticing that, as she let out a chuckle. "Haha, that is impressive! If you had a teacher, you would become even stronger than you are now." Orithyia wanted to keep an eye on this redhead for sure.

"Wow, all that without any guidance?" Chione blinked, wanting to test herself against the other Huntress now. "Do you mind having a spar with me once we're done eating and rested up a bit?" Of course the Blanco would spice the offer up a bit. "If you beat me, we'll pay you 5'000 Lien, in addition to the 2'000 you'll be receiving from the village later."

"Huh, why am I receiving money?" Ruby blinked, wondering about that. "Is it 'cause I helped protect it from Grimm? That's just doing my job though."

Orithyia spoke up. "Just accept it. We Hunters have to make money too in some way or another. It's best to not question it and just take it. That and this village has more than enough money."

"What if I lose though?" Of course Ruby questioned that, not wanting to agree to a deal without knowing all the details. She wasn't that stupid.

"Huh, looks like that handsome face of yours isn't just for show." Chione teased, as she smirked. "If you lose, then you have to accompany my sister and me until the next city and train with us. It would be a shame if you couldn't at least get a form down with that sword of yours."

"Huh-" Oh, Ruby finally got it. The two of them wanted to keep an eye on her. It was rather suspicious of someone to pop in and help take care of the Grimm without expecting any reward. Ruby really couldn't bring it to admit to herself that she helped out, because she craved that good battle.

It was a bit shameful, but she may have started to become a bit of a battle-junkie.

"Yeah, I agree." Ruby finally held out her fist for a fist bump. Seeing the confused look of Chione, Ruby groaned again. "Fist bump. Bump your fist against mine, please."

"Oh I see, this must be a Vale thing!" Chione chuckled, gleefully bumping her fist against that of Ruby and lowering it.

With their food done and eaten, Ruby decided to head out, the sisters following her. "Hey, can you two show me to the Inn you're staying at? But before that, can we go to the Village Chief and get our reward?"

"Of course, follow me." Orithyia replied and took the lead, the largest house being that of the Chief. After some formalities, some formal thanks, Ruby had received her money and was on the way to the inn with the Blanco sisters once more.

"Golden Dawn, what a fancy name." Ruby chuckled, wondering if she could get some training with her tail done after the sparring match.

"Yes, it costs a bit more than your average Inn daily, but it is good quality. Breakfast, and dinner included." Chione assured Ruby and told her. "Meet us in three hours outside, then we'll decide on where to hold the fight.

Ruby gave a tired thumbs-up, paying the fee and deciding to rest up in her room for a while. The tail itself had proven to be a bit of a weakness, especially as a Beowolf had managed to swipe at it. While her aura protected her, it made Ruby feel extremely weak for that moment, and with rage, she had pushed her fist against the Beowolf face, sending it flying back and into a tree.

At the time Ruby didn't pay it much mind, but the tree had shook rather badly, and she heard a sickening crunch as the Beowolf had stopped moving. "...I'll have to experiment with that later, but for now, how do I get rid of my two weaknesses?"

Those being her tunnel-vision when she was focusing on her speed and the aforementioned tail weakness. Maybe she could tie some weights to it, until the feeling in her tail would go away? She'd have to come up with something creative later, for now it was napping time.

* * *

Ruby had woken up 10 minutes before the three hours would pass and she had to meet up with the sisters. Using that time, she got herself awoken and put back on her clothing and cloak once more. She needed some more, maybe an extra pair that would be easy to stash away in her backpack.

"Some more stuff for later, ugh." The list really just kept on piling up, didn't it? Oh well, she wandered outside, seeing the Blanco duo already outside. "Oh, already outside?"

"I was a bit excited." Chione admitted, motioning for Ruby to follow her. She did and Chione led them to a clearing nearby the village, just perfect for a spar. "I hope you are ready, Ruby, because I won't hold back."

"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Ruby spoke out, her blood pumping faster, with her sword drawn and her getting into the stance that felt natural to her. It was full of openings and clearly the work of an amateur. Still, with her raw power and speed, she should be able to make-do.

"I'll give you the opening move." Chione cockily spoke, smirking at Ruby and brandishing that scythe of hers once more.

Ruby hadn't paid too much attention to it earlier, as she had been enticed in the battle with Grimm, but for some reason, the scythe brought back a feeling of nostalgia. _Great, another amnesia thing. Does a scythe have a meaning to me?_ Ruby took the sword in a reverse grip, rushing at Chione with surprising speed and slashing diagonally at her.

It was Ruby's first-fight with a human post-amnesia and she wanted to measure herself up against them too.

Chione for her part was only marginally surprised by the speed, as she had observed Ruby fighting earlier. Hence the Blanco side-stepping, blocking the swing with her scythe and tripping Ruby.

The redhead cursed her tunnel-vision, as she went rolling and collided with a tree. It hurt quite a bit, nearly causing Ruby to unwrap her tail from around her waist, but she got back up quickly. "Ouch, that was dirty!"

Chione was about to remark, but instead Orithyia had spoken up, getting Ruby's attention. "There's no such thing as fair or unfair in battle. There is only victory or defeat. Keep that in mind, Ruby."

"I...guess you're right." Ruby frowned, somehow the idea of an unfair battle rubbing her the wrong way. She wanted a straight fight, but it seemed she would have to fight dirty too, if she wanted a chance of winning.

"Fine then." Rushing at Chione once more, Ruby pretended to do the same move as earlier, except this time had gone into a sliding motion.

The Blanco hadn't expected that, as she jumped up to avoid Ruby's kick, yet it proved to be a mistake, as Ruby used the momentum and gripped her hand onto the ground, before forcing one leg to kick herself up and land a kick on Chione's stomach with her other extended leg.

The kinetic energy from earlier had sent Chione flying, much like Ruby beforehand, but the Huntress was able to catch herself, landing on her feet and glaring at Ruby. "You learn quickly, I'm impressed."

"I learnt from the best." Ruby chuckled, having wanted to say that line just now. "Still, I get why fight dirty, but isn't this just a friendly spar?" It was a legit question, Ruby thought.

"That's how the real world works." Orithyia answered once more, as Chione continued. "There's no fair in this world, Ruby. Only surviving and that's what the strong do. They thrive and survive." The two sisters shared a glance with one another, but quickly returned their attention to Ruby once more.

Ruby hadn't noticed luckily, as she had gotten up in the meanwhile and rushed at Chione once more. Or rather, she would have, until the other seemingly vanished from sight. "Wha?" Hearing a slice in the air, Ruby was caught off-guard, as the invisible scythe had been slapped into her side. Thankfully Chione had used the blunt side of the scythe.

Still, it had sent Ruby tumbling to the side, with her looking even more confused. "Wh-What the?! Is she teleporting?" Ruby strained her eyes, looking around, but still being unable to see. "Where is she?"

"That's my Semblance." Chione's voice came from behind, as Ruby was kicked upwards and away once more. "I can turn invisible, for as long as I have my aura. Along with my gravity-dust enchanted boots, I'm not able to be heard either, unless I speak."

"Oh, that's quite the Semblance." Ruby finally understood what a Semblance was at least. So it was some kind of special ability you had and was fueled by Aura. Quite amazing, which would explain why her running all the time earlier had drained so much Aura. _Does that mean my Semblance is speed?_

While Ruby was having her mental monologue, Chione had already gone on the offensive once more, deciding to use her scythe's sharper side this time and started going at Ruby once more.

The redhead for her part was barely able to dodge, only her superior hearing helping her this time. Focusing on her speed and subsequently semblance, she heard the scythe slice through the air, giving a very light whistle sound that humans weren't able to hear.

"How do you keep dodging me?" Chione questioned, as only some of her blows were striking Ruby, the rest being dodged with a look of pure focus. Chione finally became visible again, as her Aura would otherwise drain too much.

"Uhh, instinct?" Yeah that was the best answer, Ruby starting her counterattack, now that Chione had become visible to the eye once more. The speedy blows translated into strong, raw blows too, with Ruby pushing Chione back now.

The Blanco had more experience and was incredibly strong, but Ruby had more physical, raw strength. A bit more, and Ruby would be able to win this!

Until Chione had gone invisible once more, making Ruby stumble forward and barely able to catch herself, as she was mid-blow, swinging her sword at Chione. About to turn around, Ruby found herself unable to move, as the scythe was now around her neck, which could prove to be a fatal move.

"I yield." Ruby spoke, holding up her hands, after dropping her sword to the ground. That's how one gave up, right? "You win, the bet you win too, so please remove the scythe, before you behead me." A bit of a poor joke.

But it seemed to work, as Chione had finally become visible again, panting just a bit. "Good...I was running low on Aura. My Semblance is quite draining you see." Still, she had won, which caused the Blanco to have another smug grin now. "You know what that means, Ruby."

"Yeah yeah, I'll accompany you too to the next city and help ye train." Ruby chuckled, very satisfied with the fight. If anything, she learned some things that she had to keep in mind from now on.

A few of which were; Never underestimate thy enemy. Never let your guard-down and always expect the weirdest abilities when it comes to Semblances. Of course the one she didn't really like too much, but had to gradually accept too; Never fight fair. In a fight with say, bandits or mercenaries, it could cost her life.

Another thing Ruby noted, she wasn't really out of breath like Chione and her Aura had only been consumed by around half. If anything, Ruby felt herself grow stronger with every fight she was in. Was this known as the result of training? If anything, it confirmed to Ruby that it was a good way to get stronger from now on.

One would ask how Ruby had noticed such a thing. Ruby's only answer was that she felt the difference. For example, earlier today, she wouldn't have been able to do that sliding kick move against Chione, but after a good fight with the Grimm, some resting up and she was sure she could pull it off once more.

"Hello, Remnant to Ruby?" Chione waved her hand in-front of Ruby's face. "Are you daydreaming?"

Blinking a couple of times, Ruby was surprised to see Chione so close to her face, before shaking her head. "Sorry, just reflected on the fight, sorta."

"It was a good battle, especially for someone untrained like you." Orithyia finally spoke up, having observed the battle intensely. "You have an odd way of fighting, but it is unique. I feel like training with you is going to be fun, but keep in mind." Orithyia leaned in close to Ruby, those icy-blue eyes sending a shiver down Ruby's spine. "I'm stronger than my sister and won't go easy on you like she did."

Ruby backed off, wondering if that was a threat or just the other's way of teasing. It must have been the latter, as Orithyia gave a grin and giggled, while patting Chione on the head.

"You did good Chione, I'm proud of you." Chione seemed to beam at the praise of her big sister. "Still, you used your Semblance a bit carelessly. We have to work on it being less draining for you, or work on expanding your Aura reserves. If we can do both, that means you can uphold it longer. Keep that in mind from now on."

Chione gave a nod, while Ruby wondered if she could receive some advice too.

Orithyia noticed, patting Ruby on the head too, which earned her more blinks from the red-haired warrior. "You need to be less brash about things. You let your guard down several times and you stumble far too easily. Keep your foot work closer together and focus not only on raw speed and strength, but skill and technique too. No worries, Chione and I will help you with that, as long as you help us train too."

Ruby understood what the other meant, some of the points Orithyia had mentioned, she hadn't thought off herself. "I see. I thank you two for this opportunity of training and I promise to pay you back too." She nearly said 'Make it worth your trouble.' But that felt like it was rude to say and Ruby wasn't rude!

She was sassy, something totally different.

"Well then, it's settled. You'll be leaving the village with us in two days then." Orithyia spoke, deciding to take Chione and leave Ruby be for now. "We'll be meeting in two days again, and don't worry, we know where you'll be."

"How? Can one of you sense my energy or something?" Ruby questioned, quite perplexed.

"Yes, I can. It's a rare skill that few people can do, but you can learn it with hard training." Chione pointed at herself and offered. "We can teach it to you during the journey."

"That'd be helpful." Sensing energy sounded very enticing, with Ruby nearly jumping at the offer.

Still, now she had 2'100 Lien, which meant it was time to hit the shops again!

"Let's see, I'mma put aside 300 Lien for snacks and drinks. Which means I have around 1'800 Lien left to buy some weapons or accessories." For some reason, Ruby felt like it was a good idea to buy a protective choker. Not because she was kinky, but because it would fit her current style.

Give her a break, she was still a girl and Fuchsia did tell her that she was way too handsome for her own good. Chione even had commented on it! "I need to stop speaking to myself." Ruby grumbled, going into a clothing store and finding a black choker, as well as a pair of fingerless gloves to buy.

Finally hitting the smithy shop, she bought herself a whetstone, as well as a smaller side-arm. Surprisingly enough, the pistols around these parts were rather cheap, a Glock 18 with a few ammo cartridges cost around 1'200. Alongside that, Ruby had bought a small dagger, which she'd be holstering on the opposite leg of her leg, alongside the pistol.

All in all, she was left with no more money, Ruby beginning to think it might have been a good decision to save up some money, but decided against it. _Survival is the most important thing. Money is useless if I die._

With those grim thoughts, Ruby returned to the Inn and headed into her room. After modifying her outfit a bit, she decided to try and learn how to sew later. Maybe that would allow her to fix her own clothing later and not have to buy new ones each time they were shredded or destroyed.

Surprisingly enough, her cloak was the most durable thing on her person, if one didn't count metallic things like a dagger, sword and the Glock 18. Ruby didn't question it, the cloak meant something to her pre-amnesia and it still held a lot of meaning to her.

"I need to learn how to shoot this thing-" Yet when Ruby held it in her hand, she surprisingly was hit with a wave of memories. It gave her a bit of a headache, but she knew how to handle a lot of types of weapons. Her past self seemed to be obsessed with them, much like she had guessed right.

"I know how to fight with...a pistol, shotguns and even snipers….Huh, that could come in handy later." Again, she was mostly relying on muscle memory, but it was what it was, with Ruby putting the pistol's safety on and putting it on the table.

The dagger itself took a bit of time to get used to. It was much lighter than the sword and had a shorter reach too, meaning the red-head could attack much quicker and more precise with it, but had to get in really close with it. She had practiced for the better part of four hours again, until she heard a knock on the door and was informed that dinner had been served.

Hearing her stomach growl, Ruby chuckled, putting her weaponry on the table and getting down. She decided to do the same thing she did last time, fill her plate with a lot of food. For some reason her hunger kept increasing and she kept eating more and more, yet her figure didn't seem to get any fatter. If anything, it was like it was fuel to herself.

"Oh well." Another shrug, as she simply accepted it and chalked it down to having a very fast metabolism. Finally, she strained her ears, focusing in on the conversations around and being a bit embarrassed at what she was hearing.

' _Did you see that red-haired huntress earlier today? She was tearing through those Grimm like a madwoman!'_

' _Yes, it was quite the sight to behold. The other two Huntsmen weren't half-bad either, but they seemed more in control, than that girl.'_

Ruby decided to stop listening in, for reasons that her face may get even redder, as people were praising her and wondering about her rage earlier today. Of course she saw the Blanco sisters in the corner too, deciding to eavesdrop on them too.

' _Ruby is quite strong, but it feels like she is hiding some things.'_

' _Why do you say that, Chione?'_

' _Have you ever heard of an untrained huntress before?' Chione asked, still continuing. 'I want to know what is up with her, it might help us during training.'_

' _Little Sister, you know that people are entitled to their secrets.'_

' _But I-'_

' _No buts, Chione. Much like us, she has a right to privacy too.'_

With that the duo had quieted down, with Orithyia glancing at Ruby from the side, Chione not noticing. Ruby for her part had stiffened up a bit, not having expected for Orithyia to notice her.

Thankfully her plate had been finished, so she could put it back and return to her room, the anxiety of before slowly fading away. If anything, she just did what the two of them hadn't. "I feel guilty." Ruby admitted to herself, opting to apologize later for what she did.

Oh well, she was fed now and could continue training with the dagger for a bit. She really needed to get a scroll, as she heard some mumbling about the internet earlier. She knew partially what it was from common sense, but felt that it could help her in her training and further it too.

Another few hours had passed, with Ruby now feeling much more comfortable with the weight and feel of the dagger. She decided to holster her weapons onto her pants and go out for a few laps around the village. It was large enough and she could keep her eyes out on Grimm too, kill them too, if she came across them.

So that's how she spent her evening, running several laps around the village with her high-speed Semblance. Ruby stopped after the 16th lap, which equaled around the path she had taken from the first village, to this one.

Still, she had to stare at the fallen tree. It was an embarrassing accident, one that Ruby wouldn't admit had happened to her. She had been so lost in thought, going quicker and quicker, that she collided with a tree at full force, uprooting it and knocking herself flat for the better part of five minutes.

It was a good thing she was so thickheaded, otherwise she would have suffered a concussion by now. Finally returning to the inn, it had been around night time by now. Ruby was very tired from all the things she did today, and moved to the bed, falling asleep after having removed her belongings from her persona.

* * *

Awakening, Ruby had to decide on what to do today. After a bit of thinking, she decided to take this last day and do some more requests, if only to get more Lien. She seemed to be always short on Lien, so yeah that was the sole reason she had.

Finding the board hadn't been so hard, as it was right next to the inn. Likely because of Hunters going there and all that jazz. Looking for some tasks, Ruby saw some rather interesting ones.

'Bodyguard Escort Mission.'

'Help get rid of some pests on the farm.'

'Clean-Up Help.'

'Sorting out Files.'

Ruby took all four of the task letters and decided to do the latter three, while taking the first one to Chione and Orithyia, deciding to let them know ahead of time. "Yo there. I found a task that pays well, around 3'000 Lien to escort someone to the next major city and protect them from Grimm, bandits and stuff."

Chione was about to say no, but remembered that Ruby wasn't as rich as them. "Yeah, we can do it. It's on route anyways, so we can kill two birds with a stone." Looking at Orithyia for approval, she saw the nod and bid Ruby adieu for now, while having taken the task letter with her.

Ruby went ahead and did the two sorting out and cleaning up missions herself. They were rather easy, as she just had to help clean up the mess the Grimm from yesterday had caused, as well as sort out some folders here and there, as the secretary was sick today and someone needed to step in for her.

They paid 600 Lien each, Ruby simply accepting it as the village having a higher profile than the other.

Then came the final mission, as she had to get rid of some 'pests' or rather Grimm that were terrorizing the nearby farm. "Oh, that's gonna be funny." It did help that it paid more than double the amount, at 1'400 Lien. "I swear to god, I'm not getting greedy with money."

Shaking her head, she approached the farmers and asked for details, as well as to tell them she accepted the task. Apparently it was a very big bear and several Beowolfs accompanying it.

"Oh, I hope it isn't another Ursa." With Ruby's luck though, she knew it would be. Still, she got to work, hoping up on a tree and looking around. It had been a quiet hour, until she heard some nearby trampling. Heavy footsteps, that were heavier than any human ever could hope to be. Hence why she had aimed her gun downwards, sending several bullets at the Beowolves and stunning them.

The pistol hadn't had enough firepower to take them down, but that made it easy for Ruby to drop down, dagger in hand and push it deep into the first wolf's head, cracking through the skull. Pushing herself off of it with her legs, and taking her dagger with her, Ruby had used her speed Semblance and went for the next one, which had met the same fate as the last one.

Taking her dagger back, Ruby kicked herself off once more, but was met in mid-air by the gigantic paw of the Ursa, who had swiped her away. She had been sent flying, but much like she had seen Chione do yesterday, Ruby managed to copy those moves and landed on her feet, but not as gracefully.

"That thing is...big." That was the best way to describe it, as it towered over Ruby. It would be best to attack the thing and test its speed for now, Ruby reasoned and went for it. Her speed semblance not in full-force, Ruby sliced at the thing several times, dodging those paws to the best of her ability and even using her sword to deflect and redirect some of those blows.

She couldn't really parry them or counter either, as the Ursa's striking power was enormous and would just cause Ruby's arms to take unnecessary damage. The battle continued for a while, with Grimm having been more and more injured, it's belly nearly cut open. Furthermore, it's legs were damaged, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Phew, you were a tough guy." Ruby praised, about to move her sword and plunge it down, only for the bear Grimm to bite her using its last strength. It had bitten hard into her arm, with her Aura struggling to keep up. Without hesitation and fueled by rage, Ruby sliced the bear's head clean off, which caused it to let go of the warrior's arm.

"Fuck!" Ruby cursed, holding her arm as pain coursed through it. Thankfully her aura was already working on healing it, but the point remained. Ruby had gotten cocky and let her guard down again, something which would be her downfall one day.

They did say pride cometh before the fall, which was a rather accurate saying, now that Ruby thought about it.

"I wonder why I'm so keen on my pride? I really need to get myself in order." There also was the whole talking to herself thing, but she thought that part was relatively normal.

Regardless, her glove had been torn a bit, but otherwise she seemed rather fine...ignoring the bite marks on her exposed arm. Informing the farmers about it, they thanked Ruby very much and paid some etra, Ruby once more accepting and telling them that anyone would have done it.

Really, people were too thankful at times, and while Ruby was grateful, she really was, she had a hard time accepting such gratitude thanks to her pride. It really was several issues Ruby had to be working on, some of which nearly cost her arm earlier. Yet the thought of death didn't really terrify her, as she had been close to it once before, even if Ruby couldn't remember when it really was. "Whatever, I just wanna go sleep.."

Trudging the path back, and finally returning to her inn room once again, Ruby did the only thing she thought was a good idea. Which was to strop herself down to her underwear, and simply plop down on the bed. Another dreamless sleep immediately took her, as the events of the day had been especially tiring and the fatigue had finally caught up to Ruby.

Hopefully she would be alright and rested up for the journey tomorrow and for the adventures laying ahead too.


End file.
